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Angelica (short story)
"Angelica" is a 37-page illustrated short story and the first vignette featured in issue #4 of the Tomb of Dracula magazine series, published April, 1980. The story was written by Roger McKenzie with artwork by Gene Colan and inker Tom Palmer. Synopsis Dracula is aboard a sailing vessel in the midst of a terrible storm. As the ship begins to crash on the rocks off Harrow's Point, Maine, Dracula attacks the ship's captain, turning him into a vampire. He then turns into a bat and escapes. Sometime later, Frank Neal and his wife Laurie and daughter Angelica arrive at Harrow's Point. Frank has just accepted the position of lighthouse keeper for the island, much to the chagrin of his wife. That evening, Dracula appears outside Angelica's window. She responds to his summons, but as she opens the window sash, her mother enters her bedroom and Dracula disappears. The next night, Frank gives Angelica a tour of the lighthouse. She keeps talking about the "dead man", and Frank grows frustrated with her. As they explore one of the upper towers, they are attacked by a horde of rats. Angelica is fine, but Frank stumbles backwards and hurts himself. Later that evening, Angelica hears another summons - this time, it is coming from the ruins of the old schooner. Leaving her room, she goes to the ship only to find the vampire captain waiting for her. The vampire lunges, but suddenly Dracula appears to claim the child as his own. He decapitates the captain with a single stroke from his claws. Afterwards, he takes Angelica into his arms and drinks her blood. The following morning, Frank and Laurie find their daughter unconscious on the beach. They summon the local phsyician Doctor Chowder who immediately recognizes Angelica's symptoms. He performs a blood transfusion and advises Frank Neal to hang cloves of garlic from the windows of Angelica's room. That night, Dracula arrives to visit Angelica once again, but he cannot enter her bedroom due to the garlic. Instead, he decides to satiate his thirst for blood on Laurie Neal. Frank hears Laurie scream in pain, but when he arrives in the room he finds her dead. Funeral services for Laurie Neal are ministered by Father McFarland. After the service, McFarland tells Frank that he has dealt with vampires in the past. He brings him to a small cabin where he shows him the staked remains of the former lighthouse keeper. He tells Frank that they must put a stake through Laurie's heart before she too rises as one of the undead. Reluctantly, Frank agrees and they visit Laurie's coffin to execute the deed. Dracula meanwhile, takes advantage of the opportunity to strike at Angelica anew. He murders Angelica's attending nurse and lurches over the young girl, but Angelica awakens and keeps the vampire at bay with a cross. Frank Neal, Father McFarland and Doctor Chowder burst into the room brandishing crosses and drive Dracula away. They pursue him to the upper tower of the lighthouse. Dracula summons the very elements to aid him and a mighty wind smashes out the windows of the tower. Strong wind and shards of broken glass hurl Father McFarland backwards, killing him. His blood sprays upon the lens of the beacon in the pattern of the cross. At Doctor Chowder's urging, Frank activates the beacon and the intense light, combined with the shadow cast by the cross-shaped blood stain drives Dracula away. He shapeshifts into a bat and flies off. Frank Neal collects his daughter and leaves Harrow's Point forever. Notes & Trivia * This story is also reprinted in ''Tomb of Dracula Omnibus'', Volume 3. * The other story from this issue is "Death Vow". * "Angelica" is framed as a flashback sequence. * It is possible that Angelica Neal may be a blood descendant of Dracula. At one point, he referred to her as "Flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood", but given Dracula's personality, it is just as likely that he may have simply been engaging in a bit of melodrama. See also External Links Category:1980s short stories Category:1980 short stories